This Invention relates to mirrors, and in particular relates to the removal of condensation from mirrors.
A bathroom usually features at least one mirror, which is used for shaving, combing the hair, the application of cosmetics, and so on. However, the nature of bathrooms is such that steam is generated by showers, baths and/or hot water in a basin, such basins being often situated directly beneath a mirror. The same situation applies to areas adjoining spas, saunas, steam rooms and the like, in commercial and domestic situations. The result is that even when an extractor is used to vent air and steam from a bathroom or similar area, condensation tends to form on mirrors, resulting in the restriction of the reflected image and an unsightly appearance. Attempts to clear the mirror by the use of an accessible item such as a towel, are generally unsatisfactory and are often a cause of further annoyance.
As early as 1949, a xe2x80x9cnon-blurabble mirrorxe2x80x9d was being suggested, to prevent or remove condensation. U.S. Pat. No. 2,564,836 discloses a mirror in which an electrical heating unit is located at the rear surface of the mirror, the heating unit incorporating a layer of an electrically conductive rubber composition. When actuated, the heating element heats the rear surface of the mirror, then the front surface, as a result of which vapour condensation or moisture on the front surface is prevented or removed.
Subsequent condensation-free mirror arrangements have had generally similar arrangements, in which resistance heating has been used to heat the mirror to remove condensation therefrom. U.S. Pat. No. 3,887,788 of 1972, discloses a condensation-free mirror in which a printed circuit board heating element is mounted on the rear surface of a mirror. U.S. Pat. No. 4,060,712 of 1976 shows a heated mirror arrangement in which a heating element is woven horizontally on an insulation plate, and has a centrally enlarged portion to enable the temperature to be the same at all portions of the front face of the mirror.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,347,106 of 1992 discloses a mirror assembly which uses a reflective coating as a heating element for preventing fog formation on a mirror exposed to a humid environment, U.S. Pat. No. 5,731,569 shows a device for attachment to a mirror to prevent the formation of condensation thereon, the device including a pad element containing a heat-retaining gel and a heating element located in the gel. Numerous other prior patent specifications from, particularly, the 1970s, indicated that no one inventor has found the optimal non-fogging mirror arrangement.
It is an object of this invention to provide an improved condensation prevention and/or removal arrangement for a mirror.
The invention provides an anti-fogging mirror assembly, characterised in that said assembly includes first sheet means, second sheet means, and a bonding medium adapted to bond together said first sheet means and said second sheet means, in that said bonding medium is associated with heating means, said heating means being adapted to heat at least part of said assembly, and in that one of said first sheet means and said second sheet means is a mirrored sheet means.
The invention also provides a method of producing an anti-fogging mirror assembly, characterised by the steps of:
assembling first sheet means and second sheet means, said first sheet means being mirrored sheet means, with a gap between said first sheet means and said second sheet means;
locating heating means in said gap; and
filling at least part of said gap with a bonding medium, such that said first sheet means and said second sheet means are bonded together, and such that said heating means is embedded in said bonding medium.